--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No theoretician, no writer on art…" description: "\"No theoretician, no writer on art, however interesting he or she might be, could be as interesting as Picasso. A good writer on art may give you an ins..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/david-hockney-1395_art_no-theoretician-no-writer-on-art-however_128270.png" --- # No theoretician, no writer on art, however interesting he… ![“No theoretician, no writer on art, however interesting he or she might be, could be as interesting as Picasso. A good writer on art may give you an insight to Picasso, but, after all, Picasso was there first.” quote by David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/david-hockney-1395_art_no-theoretician-no-writer-on-art-however_128270.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/david-hockney-1395_art_no-theoretician-no-writer-on-art-however_128270.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/david-hockney-1395_art_no-theoretician-no-writer-on-art-however_128270.png) > “No theoretician, no writer on art, however interesting he or she might be, could be as interesting as Picasso. A good writer on art may give you an insight to Picasso, but, after all, Picasso was there first.” [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists' lived experience surpasses theoretical analysis **In simple terms:** Picasso's presence outweighs any writer's description Key Takeaway Value lived artistic experience over critique Themes art authenticity experience Mood analytical appreciative Type artistic critical When to use this quote - Museum visits - art education - creative practice Key Concepts Creativity historical context artist vs critic Questions to Reflect On - What can criticism reveal that experience cannot? - How do you balance theory and practice? A Different Perspective Criticism can still illuminate art despite limitations ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I carried on buying paintings, works of art, and Yves Saint Laurent, if I may say so, had a right of inspection. We even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-berge/i-carried-on-buying-paintings-works-of-art-and-yves-saint-laurent-if/) [Pierre Berge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-berge/) > [There's no such thing as a bad Picasso, but some are less good than others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-picasso-but-some-are-less-good-than/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Picasso Good authors copy, great artists steal"-Picassco”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/picasso-good-authors-copy-great-artists-steal-picassco/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [It's important as a writer to do my art well and do it in a way that is powerful and beautiful and meaningful, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-harjo/it-s-important-as-a-writer-to-do-my-art-well-and-do-it-in-a-way-that/) [Joy Harjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-harjo/) > [It is the test of a novel writer's art that he conceal his snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/it-is-the-test-of-a-novel-writer-s-art-that-he-conceal-his-snake-in/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [“No writer should be the same as another, that’s not art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-anne-fowler/no-writer-should-be-the-same-as-another-that-s-not-art/) [Therese Anne Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-anne-fowler/) > [“What you produce as a writer is art. 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The way I see it may be completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joakim-noah/art-is-interesting-because-there-can-be-so-many-different/) [Joakim Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joakim-noah/) > [The way one sees is also dependent upon one's emotional state of mind. This is why a motif can be looked at in so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-munch/the-way-one-sees-is-also-dependent-upon-one-s-emotional-state-of-mind/) [Edvard Munch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-munch/) > [I’m interested in vernacular cultures, where people lived a little closer to the source of materials and the making of objects for use. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-puryear/i-m-interested-in-vernacular-cultures-where-people-lived-a-little/) [Martin Puryear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-puryear/) ## More by David Hockney > [ You can't believe any picture nowadays, if it's digital. You can't really believe. If you see me shaking hands with Mr. \[Barack\] Obama, it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/you-can-t-believe-any-picture-nowadays-if-it-s-digital-you-can-t/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring, when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/i-had-always-planned-to-make-a-large-painting-of-the-early-spring/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [I've always said that the only thing a photograph is good at capturing faithfully is another flat surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/i-ve-always-said-that-the-only-thing-a-photograph-is-good-at/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [I'm rather shocked by what I thought was simple mindedness actually. I thought they're not looking, they're not actually looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/i-m-rather-shocked-by-what-i-thought-was-simple-mindedness-actually-i/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [You would think death was an optional extra nowadays. Nobody wants to tick that box.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/you-would-think-death-was-an-optional-extra-nowadays-nobody-wants-to/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [I live wherever I happen to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/i-live-wherever-i-happen-to-be/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [Until I saw my drawings replayed on the iPad, I'd never seen myself draw. Someone watching me would be concentrating on the exact moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/until-i-saw-my-drawings-replayed-on-the-ipad-i-d-never-seen-myself/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [You always need a bit of low-tech.You always need a pair of scissors, it seems to me. You can do better things… The high-tech,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/you-always-need-a-bit-of-low-tech-you-always-need-a-pair-of-scissors/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [When you are older, you realise that everything else is just nothing compared to painting and drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/when-you-are-older-you-realise-that-everything-else-is-just-nothing/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [The photograph isn't good enough. It's not real enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/the-photograph-isn-t-good-enough-it-s-not-real-enough/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [In fact, I'm a bit of a slob, but I've always said my excuse, I have a higher sense of order, I can see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/in-fact-i-m-a-bit-of-a-slob-but-i-ve-always-said-my-excuse-i-have-a/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [Spring is very energising to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/spring-is-very-energising-to-me/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [How difficult it is to learn not to see like cameras, which has had such an effect on us. The camera sees everything at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/how-difficult-it-is-to-learn-not-to-see-like-cameras-which-has-had/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [With chemical film, it was possible to alter photographs, but you had to be an expert. That's not true any more. The LA Times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/with-chemical-film-it-was-possible-to-alter-photographs-but-you-had/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [I think Picasso was, without doubt, the greatest portraitist of the 20th century, if not any other century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/i-think-picasso-was-without-doubt-the-greatest-portraitist-of-the/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) [Explore all 247 David Hockney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No theoretician, no writer on art, however interesting he or she might be, could be as interesting as Picasso. 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